Assuming I checked all the right majors at the Yale College site (I didn’t include CS except for EE & CS), it looks like in the Class of 2022, there was about a 62:24 ratio of employment (including researchers) to grad students (I am holding out all the small “other” categories). I have no idea how this compares to the “top” Engineering programs, but it confirms at least a good chunk of Yale Engineering grads are moving on to graduate programs.
24:62 ratio seems reasonable. However, I’d be careful about how to interpret such a ratio. A large portion of students pursuing grad degrees can relate to students being unsatisfied with job opportunities with a bachelor’s, as much as can relate to students having good opportunities for graduate degrees or grad programs being focused on prestige of undergrad name. It also can relate to special encouragement or special programs offered at the college.
For example, I did engineering at Stanford. ~35% of engineering students at Stanford do a co-terminal masters, which involves simultaneously pursuing a master’s (usually in engineering) and bachelor’s degree. A significant chunk more pursue grad degrees at other colleges and/or PhDs, so I would not be surprised if the majority of Stanford engineering students complete graduate degrees. Had I attended college where this type of program was less common, I probably would have been less likely to pursue a grad degree. Some example numbers for other colleges are below.
I suspect that the low 13% at Northeastern largely relates to their mandatory co-op program. Students who choose work in a co-op are likely to be thinking about employment soon after graduating and likely to get a job offer. Students who thinking about grad school after college, rather than employment, are less likely to a choose a college with mandatory co-op, typically delaying graduation to 5+ years. College programs can reduce rate of grad degrees, just as they can increase them.
Percent of Engineering Students Pursuing Grad Degrees
Cornell – 40%
MIT – ~40% (all majors)
RPI – 35%
Case Western – 27%
Berkeley – 26%
Pitt – 22%
Purdue – ~22%
U Washington – 22%
U Kentucky – 19%
Yale – 18%
Northeastern – 13%
I suspect that the few prospective engineering majors who choose Yale are generally not choosing Yale for the strength of the engineering program. Instead they like other aspects of Yale, which contributes to why a large portion of Yale engineers seem to go in to non-engineering type fields after graduation.
I looked up the specific portion of Yale students who majored in engineering in 2019 (prior to COVID). The portion of engineering is minuscule compared to many colleges that are better known for engineering, such as Cornell or Stanford. This also contributes to recruiting efforts. I mentioned that my company hires persons with an EE background. Why go all the way to Yale, if there are only ~5 students with EE (non-CS) majors, many of whom are probably not looking to work in engineering immediately after graduation? I expect many traditional engineering companies come to a similar conclusion. In contrast, a consulting company like McKinsey/Bain/BCC might see more value in recruiting at Yale and be open to hiring engineering grads, changing the distribution of types of companies Yale engineering grads see at career fairs. This also contributes to why Yale grads seem less likely to work in traditional engineering than average.
Portion of Yale Students Majoring in Engineering
Engineering Sciences – 2%
Biomedical – 1%
Mechanical – 1%
Chemical – <1%
Electrical (without CS) – ~0%
Environmental – ~0%